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Classic festive turkey

Description:

This is the king of all Christmas meals.

Ingredients:

2 red onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
25g butter
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
15g pack fresh sage, chopped
1 pack vacuum packed chestnuts or 150g can chestnuts, drained
500g sausagemeat
1 large egg, beaten
200g fresh breadcrumbs
4.5kg fresh turkey
10 chipolata sausages
20 Slightly parboiled potatoes for roasting
10 rashers streaky smoked bacon

Method:

For the stuffing -
Fry the onions and bacon gently in the olive oil and butter for 4 minutes.
Add the fennel seeds, which have bashed first in a tea towel with a rolling pin to crack them.
Add the sage, crumble in the chestnuts, add a little seasoning and cook for a further 3 minutes over a medium heat, until the ingredients have all flavoured each other.
Season to taste, and pour it out onto a tray to cool quickly.
Once at room temperature, pop it into the fridge until chilled.
Put the stuffing mixture back in a bowl, add the sausagemeat and egg and mix together.
Add the breadcrumbs to lighten and bind. The mix should hold together but not be sloppy.
Place the stuffing in an oven-proof dish and cook for about 45 minutes or until cooked thoroughly, to serve with the turkey.
Preheat your oven to 190°C, fan 170 °C, gas 5. Remove the turkey giblets. Cover the bird loosely in aluminium foil and cook for 3 hours. Baste occasionally after the first 30 minutes.
For the final 50 minutes of cooking, remove the foil to crisp up the skin.
At the same time, scatter your chipolatas, parboiled potatoes and bacon into another roasting trays and use some of the turkey fat to coat well.
Once the turkey's done, take it out of the oven, put onto a plate and let it rest, covered with clean tea towels for at least 30 minutes before carving.
For the gravy, skim off most of the fat from the turkey juices, put the roasting tray onto the hob at a low heat to simmer, and stir in a good tablespoon of flour. Keep stirring until thickened.
After about 1 minute, add a pint of chicken or turkey stock, a little to start with until it's all mixed together. Bring to the boil and simmer until it coats the back of a spoon.
Serve the turkey with all the trimmings and the gravy.

Serves:

Preparation Time:

0 Hours 20 Mins.

Cook Time:

3 Hours 0 Mins.

Region:

United Kingdom

Style:

Christmas

Difficulty:

1 / 5

Average Rating:

Number of Votes:

Submitted By:

headchef

Notes:

What size turkey should I buy? 3kg: 6-7 people; 3.5kg: 7-8 people; 4kg: 8-9 people; 4.5kg 9-10 people; 5kg 10-11 people; 5.5kg 11-12 people; 6kg 12-13 people; 6.5kg: 14-15 people; 7kg: 15-16 people; 7.5kg 16-17 people

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